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The economy may be crummy, but wealthy New Yorkers are still snatching up second homes in Europe.

But the countrysides and beach towns of France and Italy are proving to be less popular than classic urban settings such as London, Paris, Rome, and even less-known places like Dubrovnik and Croatia, according to Tom Acitelli at The Real Deal.

Milan and Athens were also popular destinations for New Yorkers buying real estate in Europe, brokers and analysts told Acitelli.

Of the buyers in those markets, the percent of Americans was slim, but of that percentage a majority of were from New York.

Most of these buyers tended to have business in the cities or had traveled there for years, and make for very informed buyers, Neal Sroka, a Prudential Douglas Elliman broker and president of DE Worldwide, told The Real Deal.

Other agents said that New Yorkers buying abroad were "purchasing a lifestyle" rather than making an investment in real estate.

As in New York, the higher end of the market in European cities is performing better than the rest of the market.